Silent Support
by yukimurapanda
Summary: Kise is in the middle of a busy photo shoot for his modeling career when he receives an unexpected voicemail.


**Author's note: What have I done *_* I actually cried while writing this. That doesn't happen very often.**

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Letting out an exhausted sigh, the golden-haired model dabbed the sweat off his face with a clean towel, make-up artists and hairdressers swarming over him. It had already been a hard and stressful day of modeling, and the day was barely half-over. All the bright lights and camera flashes were constantly glaring down at him, and with the deadline for the new magazine issue fast approaching, everyone in the industry was working overtime; it was almost like basketball practice, minus the basketballs.

Waving off the crowd of panicking assistants, the young man squirmed his way towards the dressing room. "Hey, hey, everyone, can't you give me five minutes to breathe?" He complained with a light-hearted laugh. _I need Kurokocchi_, he added silently, trying to avoid the flurry of brushes and hair products waving around his face like a swarm of gnats.

He heard the voice of his agent just as he reached for the doorknob. "Don't you dare take too long, Kise-san!" She shouted. "We're on a tight schedule!"

"I know!" Kise called over his shoulder as he hastily retreated into his room, locking the door before anyone could follow him inside. He sighed again before rushing over to check his cell phone. His boyfriend almost never texted him, as he just wasn't talkative to begin with, so he never expected anything, but he always checked anyway.

When he flipped his phone open, however, he was surprised to find out he received three messages as well as a missed call and voicemail, all from Kurokocchi. Immediately the model thought something was wrong. All other noise around him became muffled as he quickly scrolled through his texts and listened to the voicemail.

_"Kise-kun...Please come to the veterinary hospital as soon as you are able. It's about Nigou."_

As expected, it was a short message, and wouldn't sound too unusual to most people. But Kise knew him better than anyone else, and he could hear the subtle strain in Kuroko's voice, the slight pauses between phrases. Something must have happened. Immediately Kise grabbed his jacket and fedora and rushed out the back door, sending a quick text to his agent explaining the situation. A thousand thoughts churned in his mind as he ran, trying to determine the fastest way to get to the hospital. After sprinting five or six blocks and momentarily forgetting where the building was located, he finally stopped for air and frantically waved down a taxi. "As fast as you can, please." He told the driver urgently, anxiously gripping onto the seat in front of him. He didn't even hear her questions or attempts at small talk as she drove, starting to push the speed limit.

Kise almost didn't wait for the car to stop completely before he virtually jumped out of the vehicle, thrusting a small handful of bills through the passenger window and tossing a "Thanks—keep the change" over his shoulder as he jogged into the building.

Once inside, he quickly began scanning the area for a mop of light blue hair. Normally he was quite good at spotting Kuroko, even if his presence was unusually low. But it seemed to be taking forever to locate his boyfriend, and it only heightened his nerves.

Finally he spotted him, pacing in a corner of the small waiting area off to the right hand side of the hospital lobby. Kuroko looked up at the model as he approached, turning to face him and allowing himself to be swallowed by the blond's tight embrace. Kise felt the smaller male tremble slightly in his arms, and after several long moments, he pulled away slightly to look him over. Kuroko's icy blue eyes were filled with concern and a hint of fear, and as Kise looked over the rest of him, his eyes widened. His clothes were dirtied, and even as he hugged himself Kise could see a hastily bound gash on his left arm, and he was also leaning heavily on his right leg. "Kurokocchi, what happened…?" Kise asked, his voice almost a whisper, dreading the answer to his question. "You should go to the hospital!"

Kuroko was having difficulty looking up at his boyfriend, and didn't even acknowledge Kise's second remark. "I was taking Nigou on the usual walk," He responded. His voice was misty and somewhat distant, seeming to be more in a state of shock at this point. "We had just crossed the street, and the driver…he fell asleep at the wheel, and lost control. Nigou…" He glanced off to the side at a set of double doors that led to the operating room, his fingers slowly tightening around his arms.

The model tried his best to keep himself from tearing up. "You…you got hit by a car?" Again he pulled his precious boyfriend into his arms, cradling his head against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for not coming sooner, Kurokocchi! I wish I could do something about it…"

Kuroko didn't answer; he simply pressed his face into Kise's chest, breathing deeply to keep himself calm.

Half an hour passed, and finally a doctor emerged from the double doors, looking around and taking off his surgical mask. "Kuroko Tetsuya?" He asked, his tone indiscernible.

Both their heads perked up at hearing Kuroko's name, and together they slowly made their way over to where the doctor was standing, a sense of dread washing over Kise with each step they took.

The doctor looked into each of their eyes for a long time before speaking. "We acted as quickly as we could," he explained to them, "and we did everything we could do with the time we were given." He sighed. Kise unconsciously held his breath. "However…I'm very sorry, but we couldn't save him." The blond saw Kuroko stagger slightly. "If only we'd gotten him a few minutes earlier…" the doctor couldn't finish his sentence. He placed his hand lightly on Kuroko's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Kuroko-san. I know he must have meant a lot to you." Without saying anything further, the man turned and walked back through the double doors, his head bowed toward the floor.

Kise snuck a look at Kuroko's face; it was strangely devoid of all expression, although the model could see in his eyes that he was having trouble hiding his emotions. Ever so slowly, he wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. "Come on, Kurokocchi." He said in a sad, quiet voice, "Let's get you to the hospital."

The blue-haired male was eerily quiet the entire time they were at the hospital, almost as if he were completely numb since hearing of Nigou's passing. Kise found it slightly surreal; it seemed like a logical reaction for Kuroko, and yet something didn't seem quite right. He didn't know exactly why Kuroko was trying so hard to block his emotions, but he didn't question him. He just sat quietly beside him, holding his hand loosely. Of course he was worried about Kuroko, and wanted nothing more than to just hold him close and tight for hours and hours, but he knew he wouldn't want to be smothered, especially not now, so he remained silent.

When the two of them finally arrived at Kise's apartment, he helped his boyfriend out of his shoes before the blue-haired male headed straight into the bathroom, shutting the door silently behind him. Choking back a sob, the model walked purposefully into the kitchen to make tea for the two of them, the whole time distracted by thoughts about Kuroko. Even after the water slowly heated to a rolling boil and then poured into the two mugs and left the tea to steep, still Kuroko had not emerged from the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, the blond padded over to the door and knocked twice. "Kurokocchi? Can I come in?" he asked tentatively, putting his ear close to the door to hear his response.

"…Yes." Came the hesitant reply, the voice weak and weary.

Kise slowly opened the door and slipped inside. Kuroko was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, cradling his injured arm with his head bowed low. Closing the door behind him, the model knelt in front of him and placed a hand on Kuroko's knee, trying to get a look at his pale face just as a tear dropped on his finger.

This time, Kise let his own tears flood his eyes and blur his vision. "Kurokocchi, you don't have to hide your feelings from me," he assured his boyfriend, rising up on his knees and wrapping his arms lovingly around the smaller male. As soon as he did this, he felt Kuroko shudder and tremble before returning the embrace, his pale fingers curling around and clinging onto his shirt; a few moments later, he started sobbing quietly. Kise nuzzled his face into his boyfriend's neck, planting a soft kiss there as he soothingly rubbed circles on his back. "It's okay, Kurokocchi," he said, his voice wavering as tears flowed in a steady stream down his cheeks, smearing whatever make-up that was left on his face. "Just let it out, okay? "Kise could feel the front of his shirt slowly dampen the longer they sat there, but he didn't care. All that mattered was Kuroko; everything else was trivial to him.

They remained in that position for a long time, until neither could shed any more tears. Kise then lead the smaller male into the living room, making him comfortable with extra pillows and blankets before walking around to the tea, which had gone cold. After warming the mugs in the microwave, Kise brought the tea back over to the couch, handing one of the mugs to Kuroko and held him close once again. No words were exchanged; not even the talkative Kise said one word the rest of that night. He simply sat there next to his boyfriend, until eventually he fell asleep with his head in Kise's lap. The model gently stroked locks of his soft, blue hair out of his face before carefully picking up the sleeping teen and carrying him to the bedroom, tucking him in under the blankets. Silently he came around to the other side of the bed and climbed in, making sure to keep Kuroko close as he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
